In retrospect, it was all right there from the beginning, in the name.
The official moniker for Elon Musk’s assault on government—the U.S. DOGE Service—proved to be perfectly fitting for what looks like an already sputtering crusade. It’s a play on an ancient meme that’s more corny than clever, a dad joke masquerading as edgy humor. But what’s really telling is the name of the organization with its acronyms spelled out:
The United States Department of Government Efficiency Service.
That’s what you get when you hijack an existing agency (the U.S. Digital Service) and repurpose it as an inside joke: A name that ironically telegraphs redundancy and is an exercise in self-mockery.
Musk announced Wednesday that his days leading DOGE were over. But the effort, he said, “will only increase over time.” That’s unlikely. Without a high-profile leader like Musk, DOGE will probably go the way of the many reform efforts that have preceded it, achieving small victories in the background while agencies and White House officials make their own decisions about how to structure their operations and workforces.
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